8th Grade Parents - are you feeling that nagging sense of impending doom?Ready to run the gauntlet of high school choice? What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I am holding High School Search Workshops in Park Slope and Carroll Gardens this fall. They are three fall evenings each to help guide you through the process. Or you can put together your own group of friends and set your own days and I would be happy to meet with you. If you are interested in reserving a spot e-mail me at joyce@nycschoolhelp.com

Whether you really want to send your child to a Specialized HS or not, the test is free. If your child gets a placement to any of the 8 schools including La Guardia she will hear about it a month before the other 85,000 students in the city, and not only that, but she will also hear which of her "1-12" schools have offered her a seat. It is worth the hassle and cost of some test prep and the test, to possibly hear early and have two or three (if she is offered a seat to La Guardia) options. Believe me, when you actually have a Stuyvesant acceptance letter in hand you think twice about all the times you said, "it is not for us".

I have heard many parents feel that the fall only prep is effective. And the best preparation, aside from really understanding the specific test taking strategies of this odd-ball exam is taking practice tests. There are many good private tutors in the neighborhood and Kaplan is everywhere. I just thought I'd let you know about some SHSAT (Specialized High School Aptitude Test) classes through Princeton Review (800-2Review) that I just heard of. They are holding the fall sessions on weekend mornings at Berkeley Carroll from Aug. 8 through Oct. 19, and in at their Brooklyn Center in Midwood on weekend afternoons. They also do small group tutoring. (which was a route that we took and found very effective)

I am mentioning Princeton Review in particular because I recently attended a free college information class they held that was extremely helpful and turned our whole college search strategy around for the better. I like their approach very much. Check them out.